Army survey now more Reservist-friendly

By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

When Army leaders created a survey to get soldiers’ take on how well the service was addressing quality-of-life issues, reservists and National Guard members who serve side by side with active-duty troops probably felt a little left out.
The monthlong Army Family Covenant survey, which began Aug. 15, was sent to 300,000 soldiers, both active-duty and reservists.
But, Lt. Col. Charles Sherman, a reservist serving in Baghdad, said he was immediately put off by the questionnaire.
"I started taking it and discovered they don’t care what I have to say," said Sherman, of the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif.
The first two questions ask about the location of his garrison, he said, and Army reservists are not assigned to garrisons, so those questions don’t apply. Sherman said the survey made him feel like he was not part of the same Army as active-duty soldiers, even though he was serving in Kuwait and getting ready to head to Iraq when he received it.
The survey wasn’t geared toward Army reservists, according to Kevin Crouch, acting public affairs officer for the Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command. However, the survey has since been changed.
"Once we realized that was a sticking issue with reservists, we went ahead and changed it," Crouch said. "Anyone now can take that survey."
The Family Covenant is a promise made by Army leaders to improve quality of life in the service by increasing accessibility and quality of health care; improving soldier and family housing; addressing schools, youth services and child care; and expanding education and employment opportunities for family members.
Department of Defense civilians and soldiers’ family members can also take the survey, which can be found online at: www.armymwr.com/fmwrc/AFC/survey.htm.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64507

GI Bill Transferability Has Arrived

For the first time in history, servicemembers enrolled in the Post-9/11
GI Bill program will be able to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouses or children starting Aug. 1, 2009.
New Department of Defense guidance, issued June 23, 2009, establishes the criteria for eligibility and transfer of those education benefits.
The new GI Bill, signed into law June 20, 2008, provides the most comprehensive educational benefit package since the original bill, officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was signed into law.
For more information on eligibility and application procedures,
see the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs Web site.

http://www.gibill.va.gov/

Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Turns At-risk Youth’s Lives Around

By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2009 – When Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presided today at the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe graduation in New Jersey, he witnessed a rite of passage being shared by about 8,000 at-risk youth across the country every year. In-processing cadets learn that structure and discipline are essential components at the Illinois National Guard’s Lincoln ChalleNGE Academy. Illinois National Guard photo    (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. All came to their state’s Youth ChalleNGe program as high school dropouts identified as being at risk for substance abuse, pregnancy, delinquency and criminal activity. All faced the same rude awakening when they showed up for the first day of a 22-week resident phase that starts the program: no cell phones or electronic games, “O-dark-30” wakeups for physical training, mandatory drug screenings and not a single minute of unstructured free time from sunup to sundown. But for more than 90,000 cadets who have graduated from the program since Congress first authorized it in 1993, those sacrifices pale when compared to the possibilities the program provides. Sixteen-year-old Haley Tolbert recently joined the Illinois National Guard’s Lincoln ChalleNGe Academy, desperate to turn her life around. She had failing grades and was getting into trouble at school. She recently had moved out of her house to escape constant arguments with her parents. “I didn’t know of any other way to get my life back in order,” she said. Tolbert is among 378 cadets wrapping up their first week of Lincoln ChalleNGe at the former Chanute Air Force Base complex in Rantoul, Ill. It’s the single largest Youth Challenge site, and one of the biggest of 33 programs conducted in 28 states and Puerto Rico. The Illinois program recently graduated 303 cadets from the resident program. Richard Norris, Lincoln ChalleNGe’s lead instructor, said he’s amazed by the huge changes he sees in young people who elect to participate in the voluntary program. “They’ve come here having made a decision that they need to change their lives,” said Norris, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who’s been with the Illinois program for 16 years. “They have made a commitment, and we have made a commitment to them, too.” The National Guardsmen and retired military members who run the program expose cadets to a steady diet of military-based training and supervised work experience that centers on core program values: citizenship, academics, life-coping skills, community service, health and hygiene, job skills training, leadership and “followership,” and physical training. Army Maj. Gen. William Enyart, Illinois’ adjutant general, said the cadre’s tireless efforts bring many cadets something they’ve never experienced. “They instill the cadets with the discipline that up to that point has been lacking in their lives, and give them back those core values that can guide them in making a success life,” Enyart said. “They are incredibly dedicated, incredibly hardworking, and devote countless hours of time to ensure that these cadets are successful.” Norris cited the second phase of the program, a year of mentoring, as a critical follow-on that builds on cadets’ accomplishments during the resident phase. Cadets select their own mentors: a teacher, clergy member, police, firefighter or other adult community member. The Youth ChalleNge cadre offers training to help them be effective mentors. “It really doesn’t matter what we’re able to do with these cadets if they finish the program and fall back into their old patterns,” Norris said. “Mentors provide the continuity that is key in ensuring their success.” Eighteen-year-old Brandon Walton, another new cadet in the Lincoln ChalleNGe program, already has a pretty clear idea of how he’ll measure his own success. Walton called the program his “last shot” in getting his life back on track. He was a high achiever in high school, earning a 3.5 grade point average, before he dropped out to help to support his financially struggling family. Fast-forwarding 22 months ahead, he sees himself graduating from high school, making a gesture to every member of his family to thank them for what they’ve given him, then joining the Navy or Marine Corps. “I have big goals and aspirations in life,” he said. Although Walton hopes to one day join the military, he’s an exception. Only about 14 percent of the Lincoln ChalleNGe graduates do – a statistic Enyart said he’s perfectly comfortable with. Youth ChalleNGe isn’t designed as a recruiting program, he explained. It’s just a way for the Guard to support the communities in which it operates. “We view this as an important element of what we do for the community,” he said. “We are a community-based organization, and by giving back to the community this way, we’re helping build a stronger community and a stronger society.” The states appear to agree, with many seeking to expand their programs despite ever-tightening budgets. States pay 40 percent of the program cost, and the National Guard Bureau picks up the rest, about $93 million a year, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Anthony Kissik, director of the Guard Bureau’s youth development office. Air Force Col. Willie Cobetto, federal coordinator for Lincoln ChalleNGe, called the Illinois’ legislature’s commitment of $38 million to build a new facility for the program a sign of the value it places on the program. “They recognize that this is a program that works,” he said. “This program is about seeing the kids change, and making a difference and knowing they are on the right track.” FEEDBACK: Send your comments on this story to donna.miles@osd.mil http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55667

Mullen Congratulates New Jersey National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Grads

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden American Forces Press Service TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 29, 2009 – Navy Adm. Mike Mullen congratulated more than 100 high school graduates here who pursued their diploma through a New Jersey National Guard program. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, congratulates graduates of the New Jersey National Guard Youth Challenge Academy at their graduation in Trenton, N.J., August 29, 2009. The program identifies New Jersey youth who have dropped out of high school and uses military-style training to enhance their life skills and employment potential. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.  In a ceremony at the War Memorial here today, the 30th graduating class of the New Jersey National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy culminated 22 weeks of hard work and training by earning their high school diplomas. The 105 youths made a decision to better their lives by joining the program and are now in a position to make a positive impact on society and in their communities, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in his keynote speech before the class and hundreds of proud family members. “You have been through a tremendous amount in the past months, and I know you’ve been through a great deal before that,” Mullen said. “Let this be only the beginning of what will be a life full of achievements and accomplishments.” Since 1994, the New Jersey program has helped more than 2,500 troubled-teens transition into young adults. The three-phase program begins with a two-week residential assessment phase at Fort Dix, N.J., followed by a 20-week phase where cadets learn life skills, career development, leadership, community service and physical training. They earn their high school diplomas at the end of Phase II. “There’s probably nothing more significant, graduates, in your lives than the changes that have occurred over the past few months,” the admiral said. “Continuing to change and grow is difficult, [but] you’ve learned a lot about yourselves. You can succeed.” The opportunities that follow participating in a program such as this pave way for a better future, he added. “I can remember being about your age and not having much of a clue about what life would bring, but underpinned with good programs like this, it has great potential to bring good things,” he said. “You’re now in a position to be able to take advantage of what you’ve learned here.” For many of the teenagers, it was the challenge program or jail. But after participating in the program, the program’s director, ensured the parents in the audience their son or daughter will return home better than when they left. “Today we give you your kids back, and I think they’re much improved models,” retired Army brigadier general and program director John Nunn said. “I think you’ll see that by the time you get home tonight.” After today, the cadets now move on to the final phase of the program. They’ll return home but are assigned a community mentor who’s also a graduate of the program. After a year of being mentored and volunteering, the cadets have completed the entire program. Many will join the active duty military, some will joint the New Jersey Army or Air National Guard and others will attend community college, but all will more than likely continue improving their lives, Nunn said.

Biographies: Navy Adm. Mike Mullen Related Sites: http://www.ngycp.org/site/state/nj/ Related Articles: Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Turns At-risk Youth’s Lives Around

U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses graduates of the New Jersey National Guard Youth Challenge Academy at their graduation in Trenton, N.J., August 29, 2009. The program identifies New Jersey youth who have dropped out of high school and uses military style training to enhance their life skills and employment potential. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   Download screen-resolution   Download high-resolution Three graduates of the New Jersey National Guard Youth Challenge Academy take the oath enlisting them in the New Jersey National Guard during their graduation in Trenton, N.J., August 29, 2009. The program identifies New Jersey youth who have dropped out of high school and using military style training to enhance their life skills and employment potential. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley    Download screen-resolution   Download high-resolution Jameel Andrews, Joana Amicar and Lianabel Amaro prepare to graduate from the New Jersey National Guard Youth Challenge Academy in Trenton, N.J., August 29, 2009. The program identifies New Jersey youth who have dropped out of high school and using military style training to enhance their life skills and employment potential. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNyeeley   Download screen-resolution   Download high-resolution

Kennedy Burial Steeped in Military, Personal Symbolism

By John J. Kruzel American Forces Press Service ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 28, 2009 – Twenty-six years ago, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy received a dire letter from a member of his Massachusetts constituency. Army Sgt. John Kenney, a member of the elite team of servicemembers responsible for the military aspects of Sen. Edward Kennedy's burial at Arlington National Cemetery, discusses his connection to the late senator Aug. 28, 2009.    (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A poor Boston woman with flagging health was pregnant with her first child. Unable to afford health care, her letter was a plea for the coverage she desperately needed. Kennedy personally responded. “She might not have even had kids,” Army Sgt. John Kenney said of his mother. “I might not be here today if it wasn’t for him.” As Kenney narrates the circumstances surrounding the “high-risk” birth he survived, he crosses his arms and bears a tattoo with “Boston” scrawled in block letters across his right forearm. But tomorrow, the sergeant’s ink homage will be obscured by the sleeves of his Army dress uniform, his hands covered with white gloves. Kenney, a member of an elite team of military members, will lay his hometown hero’s remains to rest at Arlington National Cemetery here. “When I heard he was being buried down here, my first thought was: ‘I have to be on that team,’” he said. Despite any sense of personal connection or the prominence associated with the senator, Kenney and other members of the “casket team” assigned to overseeing the senator’s remains from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., agree that their focus on their mission will be unwavering when duty calls. This level of precision is customary throughout the military traditions will be evident throughout ceremonies honoring Kennedy, as the services join the nation in bidding farewell to the “Lion of the Senate.” Splashed on newspaper front pages across the country today were images of steadfast servicemember pall bearers leading Kennedy’s flag-draped casket to a procession that departed yesterday from Hyannis Port, Mass., where the senator succumbed to his battle with brain cancer Aug. 25. The procession then traveled to Boston, where Kennedy will lie in repose until his funeral Mass and burial here. Kennedy’s coffin will arrive tomorrow afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base, where Kenney and the seven other members of the team will prepare the casket for a motorcade bound for Arlington National Cemetery. At the cemetery, a separate casket team and its commanding officer will assume responsibility. Teams are jointly composed of members of each military branch, with Army members hailing from the the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or “Old Guard.” The senator’s coffin will be enshrouded in a U.S. flag, with the blue field over his left shoulder. The custom began in the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from the battlefield on a caisson. Kennedy’s service in the Army and his tenure as an elected official made him eligible for burial at the nation’s most hallowed military cemetery. But Kennedy’s contribution to the U.S. military endured long after he left the Army. The senator was a vocal champion of legislation such as the Goldwater-Nichols act, which vastly reorganized the armed forces as a joint structure, and of military pay reforms, which ushered in the most comprehensive reforms of the military and defense establishment since the end of World War II. Graveside military honors will include the firing of three volleys each by seven servicemembers. This commonly is confused with an entirely separate honor, the 21-gun salute. But the number of individual gun firings in both honors evolved the same way. The three volleys came from an old battlefield custom. The two warring sides would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for and the side was ready to resume the battle. In keeping with tradition, an Army bugler will play “Taps,” which originated in the Civil War with the Army of the Potomac. Union Army Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield didn't like the bugle call that signaled soldiers in the camp to put out the lights and go to sleep, and worked out the melody of "Taps" with his brigade bugler, Pvt. Oliver Wilcox Norton. The call later came into another use as a figurative call to the sleep of death for soldiers. In a final gesture, the surviving members of Kennedy’s family will receive the flag that draped the senator’s coffin. As with all military burials in which he’s participated in the past two years, Kenney said he is striving to achieve technical perfection during the ceremony. “We try to get it so the family says, ‘I’m so proud how they honored our loved one,’” he said. “We go into doing the same thing we do with every funeral, and that’s to give them their last honors.” But in a moment of introspection, Kenney revealed the personal symbolism underlying tomorrow’s ceremony. “It feels like it’s come full circle,” he said. “He helped me get here, and I’m going to see him out.” (To comment on this article or if you have questions, e-mail John J. Kruzel at John.Kruzel@osd.mil.)  http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55665

Leaders to Draw From Defense Board’s NSPS Review

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Senior defense leaders will use a recently issued report on the National Security Personnel System when they decide what to do with the civilian personnel system this fall, a Pentagon official said here today. This spring, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III directed that a comprehensive review of NSPS be conducted to ascertain whether the system is fair and understandable to participating employees.

The Defense Business Board’s task group report issued this week recommended a “reconstruction” of the NSPS. The group was chaired by former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy DeLeon.

“The leadership of the Department of Defense is committed to fair, transparent processes and personnel systems,” Brad Bunn, the Defense Department’s program executive officer for NSPS, told Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.

Internal surveys indicated that some employees were unhappy with NSPS, specifically with regard to performance evaluations.

The board’s report, Bunn said, will be used by senior Pentagon and other government leaders when they decide what to do about NSPS this fall. Other issues cited in the report include pay pools and their lack of transparency, as well as questions about the current pay band structure.

“This process of reviewing NSPS has gone a long way to helping inform leadership what those issues are,” Bunn said.

NSPS has helped to tie employee performance goals to organizational goals, Bunn pointed out.

NSPS’s pay-for-performance system replaced 50-year-old civil service rules that rewarded employees for length of service rather than performance.

The more than 200,000 defense civilians who have been transferred into NSPS since the system began three years ago, Bunn said, will be performance rated this fall under current NSPS policies and procedures.

The Defense Business Board’s report on NSPS is available for public view on the Internet, Bunn said.

“I would encourage NSPS organizations, employees, supervisors and managers to read the report, particularly the leadership in those organizations,” Bunn said.

http://www.defenselink.mil//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55648

Missile Defense Technology Moves from Testing to Fielding

By Fred W. Baker III American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Boosted by a few strong years of testing successes, much of the United States’ missile defense technology that once was questioned is now ready to be fielded. The destroyer USS Hopper launches a standard missile 3 as it operates in the Pacific Ocean on July 30, 2009. The missile successfully intercepted a sub-scale, short-range ballistic missile launched from the Kauai Test Facility at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. The launch was the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. U.S. Navy photo    (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “A few years ago the question was, ‘Could you even hit a missile with a missile?’ We have proven we could do that well over 35 times,” Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, the director for the Missile Defense Agency, said in an interview at the Pentagon today. O’Reilly said that 39 of the last 45 tries at stopping a test missile were successful. The failures were mostly at the start of the testing, and in the past few years, all hit their mark, except one that had a manufacturing problem. It was fixed, and three weeks ago successfully hit its target in a test, O’Reilly said. Most of the new technologies fielded will be to bolster missile defense for deployed troops. Right now, O’Reilly said, forward deployed bases are exposed to missile threats and there is a large gap in U.S. capabilities to protect them. This summer, both Iran and North Korea tested their ballistic missiles systems. And several other nations have as many as a few hundred such missiles in their arsenals. “We want to provide the same level of protection against ballistic missiles that we enjoy today against cruise missiles or against aircraft,” O’Reilly said. The Defense Department recently committed an additional $900 million toward fielding the Army’s theater high altitude area defense mobile missile defense system. The agency has finished seven of eight required tests of the system, and O’Reilly said he expects to see it in the field next year. The Army also will get some new radar systems. The Navy’s Aegis-class ballistic missile defense ships are being equipped with some improved missiles. The Aegis ship’s capability was demonstrated to the world when it stopped a crippled reconnaissance satellite over the Pacific Ocean before it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in February 2008. The Aegis ships will have a second-generation interceptor fielded next year, O’Reilly said. And the Pentagon has proposed converting six more Aegis-class ships to provide additional theater missile defense coverage. “This capability will provide protection in the theater against ballistic missiles -- short-range missiles, medium range and missiles up to ranges greater than 3,000 kilometers,” O’Reilly said. As much as $8 billion is slated for additional missile defense technologies in the future, the general said. Two demonstrator satellites will be launched into space next month. The pair of satellites will “talk” to each other, extending the capabilities of other sensors in place to detect missiles. By 2012, the agency will test the satellites, launching an interceptor from an Aegis ship toward a test target. This will allow the ship to fire at a target that is beyond its own radar ranges. Eventually, O’Reilly said, the pair will be part of a larger constellation of connected satellites. Plans are to develop a satellite system that tracks missiles around the world. “It’s just an extremely exciting area,” he said. “And all theaters across the world now are receiving missile defense command and control and will soon be receiving the capability.” In the next five years, extensive testing will take place with more than 56 flight tests, many including multiple missiles in the air at the same time, across the entire Pacific Ocean. In that testing, the agency will use a mix of satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, ships and ground-based radars. http://www.defenselink.mil//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55649